Light Up the World (Darkness Conceals)
by FieryArtemis
Summary: Marinette just wants a chance to light up her world while Adrien just wants to hide in the darkness. A two-shot!
1. Light Up the World

**A/N:** I am back to the Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction scene after several weeks! To kick it off, I present a two-shot to you!

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"If you could have any Superpower in the world what would it be?" Alya asked. Marinette looked up from the design she was doodling. Already she could feel the cold sweat forming across her brow. She fought the instinct to glance up to her loft bed. The very place Tikki was currently hiding in. Marinette had only known Alya a handful of weeks but with her sudden interest in Ladybug, she felt like she was constantly looking over her shoulder to make sure her new friend wasn't about to discover her secret.

"Wh… what do you mean?" stammered Marinette. She curled her fingers around her ears as though she were trying to hide her earrings from sight. Then she thought better of it and dropped her hand lest Alya's attention be drawn there inadvertently.

"You know? Superpowers? Super strength, invisibility, flight, rapid healing? That sort of thing." Alya waved her hand in the direction of the comic book she was reading. Marinette suppressed a nervous laugh. That had been close. And here she'd thought that the question had simply been spurred by Alya's obsession with Ladybug.

"Um… you know, I've never really thought about it before." she shrugged. It wasn't a total lie. Before Tikki had popped into her life, the last thing on Marinette's mind hadn't been anywhere close to being Superpowers. Though she had to admit, if even to herself, that being lucky was definitely a pretty useful Superpower. Again. Not like she was about point that out to Alya. She didn't want her to make any sort of connection.

Alya flipped over on to her back. "I think it would be pretty cool to invincible like Ladybug." she said thoughtfully.

Marinette propped her sketchbook up to hide the red tint that was spreading across her cheeks. "I don't think she's so much as invincible as she has a decent partner to watch her back. I think her strength probably lies in her ability to think on her feet which in my opinion isn't so much of a Superpower as it is an important skill to have."

"Eh, maybe you're right but it's still pretty cool that even when she gets smashed into the ground, Ladybug gets right back up. Not even a scratch on her suit." Alya told her. Her smile stretched across from side of her face to the other. She was also staring off distractedly up at the ceiling. She definitely didn't notice Marinette shake her head.

"Doesn't make it any less terrifying." she muttered under her breath.

"So what about it?" Alya asked brightly.

Marinette snapped her head up. Her voice came out nearly a half octave higher than what it was normally. "What about what?"

Alya snorted. "Your Superpower silly? What would you pick?"

"I don't think it works that way." Marinette pointed out. Heaven knew she definitely hadn't gotten to pick _her_ Superpower.

"Oh come on! I know it probably doesn't work that way but if it did what would you choose? Lasers? Shields? Speed?"

Marinette bit her lip as she thought about it. Surprisingly enough, thinking of a Superpower she didn't already have was a bit tougher than she'd have thought. She got by quite well with the powers that she had and any shortcomings were covered by Chat Noir's own abilities. "It isn't exactly a million dollar type question." teased Alya. "C'mon! What would you want your powers to be?"

"You can't just put me on the spot like that!" Marinette quipped.

"Tick tock," Alya replied.

With an eyeroll, Marinette glanced back down at her sketchbook maybe hoping to find some kind of inspiration there. Pages upon pages were filled in it. That didn't even take into account that she had several other books stretching back nearly five years chock full of designs that would probably never see the light of day. She hadn't ever really had the chance. Who wanted to show their ideas to a handful of classmates who would most likely ignore her. Chloe had made a point to tell her that nobody cared about what she had to say or what she did on a regular basis throughout their primary and middle school years. Marinette didn't see the point of putting herself out there if someone was just going to tear her down again. That didn't mean that she didn't want to show the world what she could do.

Her deepest fantasy, the one that she thought about in bed after she'd turned out her lights at night, was for just one chance to step up and into the light. She wanted to shine like the star that her parents told her she was. She would give almost everything to see Chloe eat her words full force. Sure Marinette seemed to be doing a pretty good job with putting Chloe in her place ever since she'd become Ladybug. Her self confidence seemed to be growing every single day since she'd first transformed. However she wanted everyone to see her for who she was without the mask. Without the costume. Rose, Juleka, Kim, Sabrina, Max, Adrien. A faint blush crept on to Marinette's face. She especially wanted Adrien to see what she was capable of. To see what she could do. Who she could be.

"I want to shine." Marinette said quietly.

Alya turned her head to the side. "Like as in light manipulation or…"

Marinette felt herself go an even deeper shade of red. She hadn't realized that she'd said that out loud. It was too late to take it back now though. She really didn't want to just blurt out that what she really wanted was the self confidence that she had as Ladybug. "Like… I would want to be able to create light wherever I went." Marinette answered slowly, choosing her words carefully.

"Hmm, that would be pretty cool. Your Superhero name could be like Aurora or Starlight or something like that. You could totally team up with Ladybug and Chat Noir! How cool would that be?" Alya grinned.

Marinette stifled a laugh. "I guess that _would_ be pretty cool."

Alya started rambling on about the Superpowers that she thought would be awesome to have. Marinette found her eyes travelling to her loft bed as she listened. Maybe it wouldn't be much longer before she got her chance to light up her world. To show everyone how bright she could be even without the Ladybug guise.


	2. Darkness Conceals

"Adrien! Adrien! Look this way! Over here!"

It was impossible to make out distinctive voices and to pick one person from another. They all melded into one shrill cry, beckoning to him as he stepped out of the town car he always arrived in. Lights flashed in his eyes. Green spots danced in his vision to effectively blind him. That only added to the sheer futility of trying to pick one paparazzi out from the next. Adrien threw his hand up over his face and ducked his head to try and mitigate some of the effect. It didn't work very well. He grit his teeth as the tabloid photographers clamored for a good shot.

Beside him, the Gorilla gave a grunt as he worked to keep any of the camera wielding vultures from getting too bold. It wouldn't have been the first time that one of them had pushed their way into his space, snagged a particularly horrible picture of him, and then printed it in a less than reputable celebrity magazine. His father had _not_ been happy to see that picture. Adrien was pretty sure that the magazine's sudden dissolvement a month later had something to do with that. However, that hadn't dissuaded most of the other photographers. They were still just a little too intrepid.

"Adrien! Smile! You look better when you smile!"

Adrien bolted. His face burned. Two weeks! It had taken the paparazzi _two weeks_ to figure out that he was no longer homeschooled and which school he went to! Adrien had no idea how they'd done it so quickly but he'd been certain that it would've taken them a little more time!

What did that mean for Chat Noir? Could he really keep _that_ a secret? How long until the paparazzi found out that he was Chat Noir? He fought back the grimace.

"Adrien! Bro! Over here!" Nino's voice cut through the buzz of noise around him. Adrien turned and found Nino standing by the door, holding it open for him and beckoning him towards the sweet safety of the school. Adrien adjusted his direction and sprinted for Nino and the open door.

Nino used some extra strength to pull the door shut. The shrill cries of the paparazzi, denied their "decent" photo, fell into a muffled hum. Adrien bent over double to try and catch his breath. "Thanks Nino." he mumbled.

Before Nino Adrien had called Chloe his best friend. However, even after a few short weeks, he was quickly beginning to realize that Chloe didn't exactly _act_ like a best friend should. Nino jerked his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the abandoned paparazzi.

"Geez dude. I know you told me that you were somewhat of a minor celebrity but that is ridiculous!"

"Yeah, welcome to my life."

"Seriously? How do you put up with them? Do they, like, follow you wherever you go?"

"If they can find me then yes."

"Yikes… hashtag no privacy."

"Like you wouldn't believe." Adrien replied, enunciating every word with a palpable bitterness. Nino didn't say anything. When Adrien looked up at him there was a distinct look of sadness on his face. He gave a sigh as he pulled himself upright. "Sorry. I don't mean to be such a basket of negativity this early in the morning."

"If I had to put up with it I would probably act the same way too." shrugged Nino. Someone else came through the doors. The yelling paparazzi came back to full force. Adrien winced. They'd be there for awhile. At least until Principal Damocles was notified and he called the police to have them cleared off. "Let's… uh, get to our lockers. Y'know, _away_ from the doors."

"That would be preferable."

The student that had just walked through the doors and passed the flashing camera lights looked at Adrien. He felt his cheeks turn red. "Have you ever thought about what kind of Superpower you'd like to have if you ever got one?" he asked Nino as they entered the locker bay.

"Um what?" Nino shot him a look that was utterly confused. To him it was so off topic that Adrien might as well have pointed out the window and yelled squirrel.

"A Superpower? Magical luck, flight, pyrokinesis, telepathy."

"You mean like if I were to ever become a Superhero like Ladybug and Chat Noir?"

"Sure. Like that."

Nino squinted at him warily. However, he gave it some careful thought. "Shields or force fields. Something along those lines I guess. Or something to do with music or sound. Now _that_ would be cool! Though if you don't mind me asking… why the sudden interest?"

Adrien bit his lip. Inside his overshirt pocket he could feel Plagg snoring gently. He didn't mean any disrespect to his kwami. It wasn't that Adrien didn't appreciate the freedom and power that Plagg had given him as Chat Noir. Not that at all! The problem laid in the fact that it was _Chat Noir_ who held the freedom to sneak out at night. Chat Noir could slash through the bars that hindered him with 'Cataclysm.' Chat Noir moved with the shadows to stay out of sight and hidden.

Adrien Agreste, on the other hand, held no such powers.

"I think about it sometimes." Adrien said, finally answering Nino's question. "Like if I didn't have- well, I'm pretty sure that I would want invisibility if it were possible. I could just disappear from right in front of the cameras, away from the Gorilla, anything that I didn't want to deal with for a little while. It would make my life so much more peaceful."

"Nah bro." smirked Nino. "You don't need to be invisible. You just need someone to teach you the art of sneaking out."

"Oh, and you're an expert at that?"

Nino bowed a little. He even threw his hand out to the side and inclined his head. "Your first lesson will be this afternoon during lunch break."

A smile spread across Adrien's face. "And what's the first lesson if I might ask… and will there be refunds given if my tutor sucks?"

Nino laughed, "I'll buy you cookies if I can't help you figure out how to ditch the paparazzi. The most important thing is to not go out the front door."

"I feel like I could've told you that." Adrien laughed too as he thought about the handful of times he'd used his window to get out as Chat Noir. Maybe Adrien Agreste could move through the shadows too one day. Maybe, just maybe, he could get the darkness to conceal him too.


End file.
